PMBC
with a nonpartisan Trustee Board | traded_as = | industry = | genre = | fate = | predecessor = Patagonian National Radio Company | successor = | foundation = 17 July 1933 | founder = Arthur Wallace | defunct = | location_city = Port Desire | location_country = Patagonia | locations = | area_served = Worldwide | key_people = Abigail Mills (Chairwoman, Trustee Board) Anthony Rawlings (Company Director) | products = Broadcasting, radio, web portals | production = | services = Television, Radio | revenue = £99.384 million (2014/15) | operating_income = | net_income = | aum = | assets = | equity = | owner = State-owned | num_employees = 1,278 (2015/16) | parent = | divisions = | subsid = | homepage =pmbc.co.po/news | footnotes = | intl = }} PMBC (stylised as pmbc, known officially as the Patagonian Mutual Broadcasting Company, and formerly as the Patagonian National Radio Company) is the sole of the n nation of Patagonia and the largest, most-widespread broadcasting organisation in the country, with 1,278 employees maintaining a presence in all 17 departments and several major international locations. The PMBC is the oldest public broadcaster in South America, founded in 1933 under a Parliamentary Charter of the Redmond government as the Patagonian National Radio Company. The PNRC was heavily controversial, as opponents of the ruling Country Party claimed it was used solely to misinform the public and typically take the side of the government when reporting on both domestic and international affairs. The already-politicised PNRC came under heavy censorship during the rule of the Mountaineer faction, essentially becoming an outlet for government propaganda. The August Crisis of 1978 shook up the PNRC, and that same year, the operations of the company were suspended indefinitely. It would not be until early 1981 when the PNRC was reformed as the Patagonian Mutual Broadcasting Company, with an officially board of trustees aimed at providing the best-quality content for Patagonian citizens. Hence, since then, the PMBC has transitioned into the most trusted news organisations in Patagonia and continues to provide the highest rated content in the country. PMBC is nationally operated and controlled by the PMBC Board of Trustees, a group of five members which is regulated to be nonpartisan and only make decisions which favour public viewership and not any governmental decisions. Although officially nonpartisan, some more conservative members of Parliament and noted members of the public claim the PMBC has a highly bias. Nonetheless, the PMBC preeminently receives the highest monthly audience share in the nation, at 74.3% in the March of 2016. PMBC broadcasts primarily out of its headquarters in Port Desire, while the 16 other departmental headquarters serve as syndicate broadcasters and local coverage correspondent bases. In addition to these 17 domestic locations, PMBC has small, permanent international syndicate locations in , , , , , , and . History The PMBC was originally founded on 17 July 1933 as the Patagonian National Radio Company through a Parliamentary Charter of the Redmond government, in order to nationalise the small broadcasting industry which had formed in the city of Port Desire. The idea to form a national radio broadcasting industry was inspired by the of the , which had allowed for the nation to avoid chaotic and rapid expansion in the manner of the . The government also viewed as an opportunity to air information to the public in the manner of the , and as such, the expansion of the radio industry and the number of citizens using it would allow for the government to address the nation on a mass scale in a way which had never previously existed. Hence, the government quickly pushed for the expansion of the new radio network, which, at the time of its foundation, consisted of two separate broadcasting pylons in Port Desire and one in Sand Point. The early PNRC was placed under the control of Arthur Wallace, the former owner of Patagonia's first radio broadcasting unit in Port Desire and an avid supporter of in the country. Although he believed in the independence of the content from the control of the national government, his own personal views reflected the Redmond government's at the time, and as such, the earliest news content selected by Wallace largely resounded the opinions of the government. This greatly differed from the views of the small aristocratic class of citizens which could actually afford radio at the time, and as such, Wallace pushed for further governmental support for the media medium in order to increase its spectrum to at least the more staunchly republican middle class. Governmental support coincided with economic recovery from the , and as such, the PNRC flourished with the spread of privately owned radios across the country, as a small tax was added to each unit in order to provide parts of the funding for the company. In addition to its news broadcasts, the PNRC also began to air book readings, music, and plays, a new medium of the arts which brought about mixed reactions from the small artistic community of the nation. The outbreak of the would dramatically change the nature of the PNRC, which began much more serious coverage of international and domestic news as true tales from the European theatre captivated audiences at home. These broadcasts were widely listened to and proved to be far more popular than any other content which had been previously aired on PNRC channels. Hence, as the war came to a close, the PNRC began to news on a wide scale in order to maintain its dominant popularity. While more educated citizens became wary to the many over exaggerations of news stories published by the PNRC, the greater public was largely unaware of any sensational bias, and as such, by the time of the establishment of the Republic in 1950, the method by which the news was reported had morphed into a tool which could be exploited as propaganda by the government. This tool would first be utilised most successfully in the coverage of the Shipyard Revolt of 1958, which would ultimately give rise to the radical Mountaineer faction of the ruling Country Party and see its takeover of the PNRC. The rule of the Mountaineers over Patagonia would heavily impact the ability of the PNRC to operate without much government-allowed guidance. The Mountaineers allowed for the introduction of some in 1963, though, as it was a completely new form of media being introduced, it was heavily regulated, and radios remained the dominant source of mass media in the country. The PNRC, under heavy censorship, largely lost its large audience due to the tame but highly biased reporting which it produced during the rule of the Mountaineers, and, although it previously had been highly favoured by many people as a tool of both education and entertainment, radio in general lost a great deal of its importance as the ability of the PNRC to produce independent content declined. High dissatisfaction with the organisation of the organisation and a large amount of resentment at the obvious biases in the content produced led to the suspension of the PNRC following the August Crisis, whereafter many doubted that a nationally-owned state media company was a necessary function of the government due to its ability to be easily influenced along partisan lines. After three years, however, the new, openly democratic government of Patagonia wished to recreate a state-enterprise for national media due to the unregulated expansion of private broadcasting during the period in which the PNRC was suspended. In order to prevent the creation of a second propaganda tool, as the PNRC had become, the government organised the creation of a new, officially nonpartisan Trustee Board, whose members would be appointed based on merit rather than affiliation. Hence, it is in 1981 that the Patagonian Mutual Broadcasting Company would be founded, and with this new organisation, the field which it encompassed would expand from radio into television as well. Radio broadcasts resumed in early 1982, with television broadcasting beginning shortly afterwards. The outbreak of the Argentine-Patagonian War that same year gave way to the widespread use of the state-run media as a source of public information once again, and this second time, with the inability of the government to directly control the organisation, the PMBC was able to continue its broadcasts unhindered following the war, with its popularity and its journalistic integrity both intact. The spread of the as a medium for mass media in its early days coincided with a large amount of government expansion of the PMBC during the mandate of Alice Hartley and the Social Democrats, and this broad expansion of the ability of the PMBC to produce its own, independent content was hugely popular domestically. With much more funding than previously had ever been given, the PMBC produced not only informative content, but also entertainment as well, with domestically-produced television comedies and drama being well received not only in Patagonia but abroad as well. The PMBC kept pace with the rise of the Internet and continued to progress with the spread of as well. The PMBC remains the most popular domestic producer of mass media in Patagonia, and it has continuously been considered the most trusted news organisation in the country since its recreation in its current form. Governance The PMBC is defined specifically as a state-public company, which, in Patagonia, refers to the formal structure of a . The PMBC has been in continuous existence since its conception as the PNRC in 1933 through a Parliamentary charter. In addition, two more Parliamentary charters reorganised the official governance and structure of the PNRC, with the first in 1950 simply carrying it over into the new Republican government, and the second in 1981 overhauling the company into the modern structure which is maintained today. The operations of the company are managed from the Trustee Board, whose members are appointed by the Parliament based on their merits in the media industries. The Trustee Board, in turn, then determines the Company Director, who is the effective leader of the PMBC and manages its operational divisions through the Executive Board. Management structure The commanding heights of the PMBC are controlled by the Trustee Board, which exists to determine what is best for the general public in relation to the operations of the PMBC. The Trustee Board is composed of ten members, with each member being appointed into their position when one previous member resigns, becomes unable to make decisions, or is ejected from the board. The Trustee Board is headed by a Chairperson, who is appointed into that position every five years by a vote held within the Board itself. The Chairperson determines the agenda of the board, and as such, determines the agenda of the company. The Trustee Board is responsible for the organisational management of the PMBC, which, in turn, is led by a Company Director. The Trustee Board also appoints the directors of the various operational divisions of the PMBC, who collectively, along with the Company Director, make up the Executive Board of the PMBC. The Executive Board serves no real purpose other than to inform divisional directors of decisions made at the level of the Trustee Board, as it is there that company-wide decisions are made. In turn, with the approval of the Company Director, any decision related to the specific division which a divisional director makes can be done so independently. Hence, a great deal of freedom exists with the divisional directors, whose, sometimes sweeping, decisions need only be approved by the Company Director. There are five operational divisions of the PMBC, those being, in order of division size: *PMBC Television *PMBC Radio *PMBC News *PMBC Entertainment *PMBC Online Offices and locations The vast majority of PMBC enterprises and productions are based out of its headquarters in the Patagonian capital city of Port Desire. The PMBC has been located in Port Desire since its conception, as it is the largest city in Patagonia and also the seat of the Patagonian government. Known officially as PMBC House, it is the third building to serve as the headquarters of the company, with the first being a now demolished building known as Old PNRC House, and the second being a building known as New PNRC House, or more colloquially, Grey-dio House, a play on the words grey and radio, referring to the grey colouring of the building's masonry. PMBC House, hence, is sometimes referred to as Broad-glass-ting House, although this name is much less common because of its unwieldy phonetics in the Patagonian accent. PMBC House is home to 1,034 of the company's employees, with the remaining 244 employees being spread across the 17 departments of Patagonia and 7 international locations. In most cases, the size of the regional offices varies depending on the population of the department, with the largest departments maintaining a more robust ability to broadcast than the smaller, less populated departments. All editing and publishing is also only done at PMBC House, with raw coverage being the primary focus of these secondary locations. Services The services of the PMBC are divided into two categories; producers and distributors. Producers create the content which is then dispersed to the general public through distributors. The producer divisions are PMBC News and Entertainment, while the distributor divisions are PMBC Television, Radio, and Online. Television PMBC Television is the largest, most comprehensive division of the PMBC, in that it most prominently utilises the News and Entertainment divisions of the PMBC in order to air their content. Technically speaking, PMBC Television only comprises of the actual airing and broadcasting of PMBC News and Entertainment content, although it is this management position which makes it the most important aspect of the modern PMBC. The PMBC airs several channels domestically in Patagonia, of which PMBC1 and PMBC2 are the flagship channels. Alongside these flagship channels, there are PMBC3, PMBC4, PMBCuk, PMBC Cinema, PMBC Sports, PMBCe, and PMBC Kids. All channels broadcasted by the PMBC are . Analogue television was phased out in 2011, and since then, satellite-based digital television has been the sole means of publicly-funded television transmission in the country. PMBC channels are domestically broadcasted through via the state-owned Patagonian Satellite Broadcasting, or, PSB. Specifically, PMBC1 airs in the format of a 24-hour news service, providing domestic and international news through general and specialised formats. PMBC2 provides more comprehensive broadcasting, airing, in the daytime hours, various domestically and internationally produced s, speciality news coverage at key times in the evening, and various critically acclaimed television shows at primetime. PMBC3 follows the same general format as PMBC2, but it is intentionally oriented for audiences. PMBC4, likewise, targets a more elderly audience. PMBCuk airs television shows and movies produced specifically in the , with a great deal of its programming coming directly from the . PMBC Cinema and PMBC Sports air their stated subjects comprehensively, with both focusing on Patagonian films and leagues respectively. PMBCe operates in the same manner as the general, linear PMBC channels, although its programming is solely in the . PMBC Kids airs content aimed at younger children, with the specific target age changing in the day in relation to when school lets out for older children. Radio PMBC Radio is the oldest division of the PMBC, it is regularly considered the cultural epicentre of the PMBC, and its services are domestically recognised as a of Patagonia. PMBC Radio offers six nationally broadcasted channels to the entirety of the country, all of which are provided through . The six major channels are also available terrestrially on frequencies, and further more, on PSB-backed , which however, unlike all other broadcasts from the PMBC, is not freely-provided, and hence, is not widespread in the country. The three flagship channels of PMBC Radio are PMBC Radio 1, PMBC Radio 2, and PMBC Radio 3, all of which typically make up more than 65% of the monthly national audience share. The three additional nation channels are PMBC Radio Sport, PMBC Radio Live, and PMBC Radio 6. There are 14 additional channels provided by PMBC Radio, though each is bound to a specific geographic region, with 11 of those corresponding to departments or groups of departments, and 3 of those corresponding to the three largest cities in the country, Port Desire, Sand Point, and Lackwood. Radio 1 focuses on and is known domestically for its top ten chart show held every day and updated monthly. Radio 2 airs alongside periodic s held at specific times in the day, primarily during s. Radio 3 programmes and live orchestral performances, with the majority of its content created by the PMBC Orchestra. Radio Sport broadcasts live coverage of sporting events across the country and internationally and talk shows which cover sports topics when no live, syndicate games are taking place. Radio Live is the 24-hour news service of PMBC Radio, broadcasting both comprehensively inclusive segments and speciality reports. Radio 6 is a mixed use channel of spoken-word performances and additional space for sports coverage when more than one notable sporting game occurs domestically. Overall, the PMBC has a virtual monopoly on terrestrial radio broadcasting in Patagonia, as no privately-owned radio stations exist outside of major settlements. News PMBC News is a flagship enterprise of the organisation, in that the company has maintained a strong heritage of broadcast journalism since its inception as the PNRC. Although the relatively small size of the PMBC compared to many major nationalised news organisations poses problems towards the scope of the PMBC, its ability to report is comparable to major local news networks in foreign countries, and as such, it maintains a strong focus on Patagonian topics to a great amount of domestic success. International events are often covered through purchases from the , with major international events and certain key areas with a strong PMBC presence presenting a more suitable capacity for the operations of independent coverage. PMBC News produces and edits its material for distribution through the respective channels of the PMBC network, with all non-field presentation operations occurring at the PMBC House in Port Desire. PMBC News is generally considered to hold biases in its reporting by some more outspokenly-conservative Patagonian commentators and pundits. Nonetheless, PMBC News has consistently been considered the most reliable news source in Patagonia since 1986. Entertainment PMBC Entertainment is one of the most well known divisions of the PMBC because of its large successes in producing and promoting entertaining expressions of modern culture. It is through PMBC Entertainment that the production of s, s, , s, and live s take place. The division is also known for its patronage of domestic s and s via the incorporation of their works into PMBC productions. All PMBC Entertainment items are filmed at PMBC House in Port Desire, and additionally, further productions are sometimes held publicly in s and s when applicable. One of the more famous and widely celebrated annual public events hosted by the PMBC is the PMBC Promenade Symphony, which takes place every year in August at the Queen Victoria Hall in Port Desire. Of all its works throughout the organisation's history, the PMBC is most famous internationally for its production of high quality films, television shows, and documentaries. Many of these films are often s and reinterpretations of classic 19th century , with some of the more famous being the Jane Eyre film of 2003, the Agnes Grey film of 2007, and the Longdowne Hall television series which is still in production to this day. Along with these famous productions, the PMBC has produced a multitude of other items of different genre and period. The documentaries produced by the PMBC are considered by foreign critics to be some of the best documentations of natural science available to the general public, and these documentaries are what typically sell in the highest volume to foreign entertainment buyers. Radio dramas and live concert performances are also well known PMBC events domestically, with a large number of these being allowed for open, public viewing as well as broadcasting on radio and television channels. Online PMBC Online is the service of the PMBC which maintains its presence online. Technology services are managed in house, and the PMBC uses s to manage its online services. A large part of PMBC Online is dedicated to the display of PMBC News, which is the most access point of the site from international IP addresses. Furthermore, for domestic IPs only, television, film, and radio productions are available through PMBC Play, which allows for the streaming of recent, uploaded productions. PMBC Play is the most commonly used point of PMBC Online from domestic users, as it offers a great deal of entertaining and informative content without any charge to the user. PMBC Online is managed, like all other divisions, out of PMBC House in Port Desire, which contains the primary servers of the online acces. See also *Media in Patagonia *Culture of Patagonia * Category:Patagonia Category:Media Category:Companies Category:Companies of Patagonia